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Running the Military

From stress relief to developing strategy, these top U.S. military officials find so much in the sport of running

Nov 9, 2006

Major General Frank Faykes By: Sarah Lorge Butler

Job Title: Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget, U.S. Air ForceAge: 52Stationed: Washington, D.C.Leads: A staff of 150 people who develop the $130 billion Air Force budgetWhat he says about fitness: "The Air Force culture is focused on fitness to help our people do their demanding jobs in the global war on terror."

Air Force Maj. Gen. Frank Faykes can tell you exactly the date he started running: August 25, 1979. And exactly how many miles he's run: 52,000 and counting. It's the kind of numeric precision you'd expect from the man responsible for developing and justifying the $130 billion Air Force budget.

Faykes entered the Air Force as a cost analyst in 1976 and steadily rose to his current position as a two-star general managing 150 people. A colleague based with him at Torrejon Air Base in Spain first convinced him to give running a shot. "It was about 100 degrees, and I went out and ran three miles," he says. "I thought I was going to die." He quickly improved. "As I became fitter, I was able to do really well, and that just got me motivated," he says. Translation: He won a lot. Faykes has PRs of 15:39 for 5-K and 2:38 for the marathon.

Faykes runs 40 miles per week and focuses on racing 5-Ks. Two years ago was an exception. "My running partners had been giving me a hard time because I was going to turn 50," he says. "I said, 'Well, I may turn 50, but I can beat most of you guys, and oh, by the way, I can run 50 miles.' I regret ever having said that, because then I had to do it." Those buddies organized the Frank Faykes and Friends Fabulous 50 in Dayton, Ohio, a 50-mile race on Faykes's birthday. He won this, too, in 8:19, but then, he was the only finisher.

General Robert Magnus By Sarah Lorge Butler

Job Title: Assistant Commandant of the Marine CorpsAge: 59Stationed: At the PentagonLeads: Second in command of 180,000 marinesWhat he says about running: "I'd like to see myself able to run marathons as long as I'm alive."

It's 3 a.m. at Arifjan, a U.S. military base outside Kuwait city. The temperature is in the mid 90s, but a lone Marine, who's just arrived from Washington and is on his way to Iraq, circles the complex in running shoes and shorts. While heavily armed soldiers keep watch, Gen. Robert Magnus-the second in command of the 180,000 marines worldwide and one of only five four-star generals in the corps-covers 10 miles.

"A lot of people use pills like Ambien so they can sleep on the plane during long trips," Magnus says. "I don't do that. As soon as I arrive somewhere, if it's physically possible, I go out for a long run. That helps me reset my body clock."

Semper Fi may be the official Marine Corps motto, but Semper Fit is the unofficial one. Running, Magnus says, "is part of our ethos." Although he's run since 1968, Magnus became passionate when he decided to train for the 1985 Marine Corps Marathon. Last year, at 58, he ran it in 3:33. When he's not traveling, Magnus's day at his Pentagon office begins around 6 a.m. and ends after 7 p.m, but he makes time in the afternoon for a five- to eight-mile run. "If I don't work out," he says, "the ability to make good decisions after 4 p.m. rapidly drops off.

"We train for combat," Magnus continues, "so it makes sense from a self-preservation point of view to be in the best possible physical and mental shape."

Vice Admiral Jonathan Greenert By: Sarah Lorge Butler

Job Title: Commander, U.S. Seventh Fleet, 52Stationed: Yokosuka, JapanLeads: 20,000 sailors and marinesWhat he says about running: "It's the stamina from running that helps keep you focused when you're tired."

When you're the commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, you don't expect to get a lot of sleep. Vice Adm. Jonathan Greenert often found himself awake for two or three days at a time. He coordinated the Navy's response to situations from the devastating 2004 tsunami to the North Korean missile tests in July. Thanks to running, he says, he has the endurance he needs.

His reaction to stress wasn't always so healthy. In 1980, Greenert was working on a nuclear submarine, smoking about a pack a day, piling on pounds. Then he met his future wife, Darlene, who was training for the Honolulu Marathon. Greenert has since completed three 26.2-milers, with a PR of 3:06. These days he puts in about 20 miles a week-not as much as he'd like, but enough to clock a recent 43-minute 10-K. "It gets complicated," he says. "My job involves a lot of travel."

Until September, the three-star admiral was in charge of naval operations over a 52-million-mile area of the Pacific and Indian oceans. At sea, he ran either on a treadmill or around the USS Blue Ridge's flight deck, where five laps equal a mile. It's a decent run in calm waters, but quite a hill workout when the waves swell. And the deck's steel surface, which gets extremely hot, is "nuts on your shins," he says. "The good news is, there's generally a nice breeze." His recent reappointment to the Pentagon, and terra firma, has him mulling another marathon.

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